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From left: Neil Smith, Sue Dolman and John Kay
Pressure performance
The first few years in business for any new company are
widely accepted to be the toughest, with the commonly held belief that almost
half of all businesses fail during the first year. This has not been the case
for Herida Healthcare however, with the pressure care manufacturer achieving
impressive growth globally in only its second year of trading.
Based in Leeds, Herida Healthcare was set up by
entrepreneurs Neil Smith and John Kay and started trading as a new start-up a
fraction over two years ago.
In that time Herida and its sister company - Herida
Healthcare Manufacturing - have worked closely with industry professionals and
various locally supporting bodies, helping the company to achieve the
foundations required to progress into becoming a player in the global pressure
care market.
From
strength to strength
In just a short span of time, Herida Healthcare have made a
big impact, launching a range of clinically proven products, generating
millions in sales revenue with a highly impressive 31 percent EBITDA
performance as well as creating a number of new job opportunities.
Discussing the achievements of the company, Managing
Director Neil Smith told THIIS: "When entering an already saturated market,
like that of pressure area care, it is always difficult to penetrate through.
Particularly when there are some very good businesses and well-established
brands available to customers today.
"However, recruiting an exceptionally talented group of
people, working very hard at our UK manufacturing strategy and, of course,
remaining close with industry key opinion leaders, has been key to our
success.”
Power
to the people
For Neil, dedicated and hardworking staff is what he
believes sets Herida Healthcare apart in the industry and is a fundamental USP.
"I seem to be excited every time I come into work,” he
continued.
"When I see such talent and the enthusiasm that success
itself creates, it is better than anything we could acquire or implement
strategically. The team within the Herida Healthcare Group of companies are
some of the most professional individuals that I have had the pleasure of
working with during my career.
"We have recruited a new Financial Controller and Marketing
Manager in the last few months, which is key to supporting our rapid growth and
existing, gifted management team.”
Proud of its British manufacturing facilities, Herida apportions its growth to its dedicated staff
Investing
in British manufacturing
One particular source of pride for the company is its
British manufacturing facilities, with Herida Healthcare heavily investing
funds received from various support programmes and grants into its
manufacturing capabilities.
Manufacturing a range of specialised mattress and cushions,
Herida’s products are designed to help manage the pressure, shear and friction
forces which can cause pressure ulcers for patients who remain immobile or
bed-bound for any length of time.
In just over 24 months, the company has launched 26
standard products, along with an array of specialist or made to measure
products that customers are likely to require at some stage, according to the
company, whilst all high or very high-risk products have been clinically
evaluated and have supporting papers written by expert Clinicians within the
Tissue Viability field.
John Kay, Operations Director of Herida Healthcare,
explained: "The board, supported financially by our Principal Investor and
programmes linked to Leeds Council and European funding, such as Local
Enterprise Partnership, AD-Venture, Digital Enterprise and the Manufacturing
Growth Programme have all been instrumental in taking the business forward so
quickly.
"These parties have approved capital investment in
2017/2018 of around £300,000, primarily towards leading edge manufacturing
machinery and IT infrastructure.”
Funding has been used to finance specialised ‘bar tracking
equipment’ used to attach handles onto the mattresses, a state of the art
decontamination unit for cleaning mattress and cushion covers, and a complete
IT install with the ability to barcode and scan items; a key requirement for
suppliers to the NHS.
Keen to highlight its operations and production capability,
the company has also produced a new corporate video, encouraging its existing
and prospective customers to learn more about the company.
"Our recent video demonstrates with complete transparency
our proud, British manufacturing facilities” emphasised Neil.
"With the uncertainty of Brexit, the visualisation of our
manufacturing process provides comfort to everyone that Herida can deal with
all circumstances that a breakaway from the EU creates. This allows ongoing
confidence that we have controlled manufacturing and quality control, right
here at home.”
A lean
operating machine
Central to Herida Healthcare’s success has been its
operational efficiency which John explains has been carefully designed and well
implemented, resulting in the pressure care specialist’s rapid growth.
"By adopting lean management processes that do not disrupt
our impressive key performance indicators so as not to affect our customer
service, we are enjoying impressive profitability,” noted John.
"Our lead times on standard stocks are 98%+ three to five
working days, which has been achieved by a multiskilled, well-trained workforce
who have been very keen to learn and implement their services.”
The organisation also pays particular attention to a
commitment to quality management processes, via its ISO 9001 (2015) and ISO
14001 (2015) accreditation, with John confirming that the goal in 2018 is to
achieve the ISO 13485 medical directive standards.
"Equally, raw material suppliers form the remaining part of
our operational successes and we would like to go on the record and thank them
for their ongoing support,” added John.
The company has seen considerable success, particularly abroad, in just over two years
Overseas
opportunities
For Herida Healthcare, the largest growth has been enjoyed
exporting to countries across the globe, where the company invested time and
effort to expand its reach in a short time.
"Our loyal distribution partners are fully committed to the
rapidly growing Herida brand and as such, themselves are also enjoying
fantastic success in their respective markets,” said Neil.
"Our Export market has been instrumental to our strategic
focus and I’m delighted to tell you that this now represents around one third
of our turnover. I’m really looking forward to 2018 and beyond. It’s such a
privilege to lead an exceptional team.”
Neil finished by confirming that Herida Healthcare will
also be launching a new website and exciting product range in Q2 of 2018, as
the company looks to continue pushing ahead with its ambitious growth goals in
year three.
The company's website is HERE